


The Haunting of the Ardham Lodge

by WhiteravenGreywolf



Series: Lovecraftian Ruby/Christina [2]
Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cults, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family Secrets, Haunted Houses, Horror, Lovecraftian, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:07:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27737389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteravenGreywolf/pseuds/WhiteravenGreywolf
Summary: Christina has decided to sell her summer family home in Ardham, since she's never even been there. She and Ruby take a trip there to empty the house of all its belongings before she puts it up for sale. However, between strange neighbors and stranger happenings around the house, Christina doesn't suspect the secrets hidden within the Ardham Lodge.
Relationships: Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Series: Lovecraftian Ruby/Christina [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028940
Comments: 51
Kudos: 77





	1. Prologue: Silence Lay Steadily...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I hope you're excited for some spooky stuff!  
> This story takes place about a year after "The Never Named City". It's not a direct sequel but it references the first story quite a few times. It's also not an adventure but more in the vein of The Haunting of Hill House. You'll find plenty of references to this masterpiece of a show.  
> As usual, I'll be posting a chapter every day, but today I'm posting both the prologue and the first chapter.  
> Without further ado, I hope you'll enjoy this story as much as the first one!

The white light in the interrogation room was blindingly bright. Despite her tiredness, Ruby couldn't even shut her eyes. It was giving her quite the migraine. She wondered how long she'd been stuck in the room. There was no clock, probably on purpose. She assumed it was just a matter of time. Once they'd interrogated Christina, they were bound to let her out. They'd done nothing wrong.

  
The door opened, and the smell of cheap cologne and warm coffee filled the room. A man in a police officer uniform walked in, carrying a small plastic cup filled with smoking hot coffee. He set it on the table in front of his chair then sat down. He looked Ruby up and down. Ruby held his gaze and waited.

  
"We just talked to your girlfriend," he said dismissively. "Quite a story."

  
Ruby crossed her arms and waited.

  
"But there are still a few things I don't understand. So, let's start from the beginning, again."

  
Ruby sighed through her nose, trying to stay calm.

  
"You and miss Braithwhite have been dating for six years, you said?"

  
"Six years, yes."

  
"She said something about a break..."

  
"We took a break two years ago, but we've been back together for more than a year."

  
All of these were unnecessary, and Ruby knew it. He just wanted to keep her here longer, because he could. She wanted to bet Christina had already been left out. She wanted nothing more than to remain silent until he agreed to let her out, but she also knew he wouldn't let her out until she spoke.

  
"So you've been together for a while. Did she speak about the house before?"

  
Ruby shrugged.

  
"She spoke about a summer home in Massachusetts a few times, yeah, but like I told you, it was the first time either of us went there."

  
"Of course."

  
He took a sip of his coffee, trying not to look like he'd just burned his tongue. Ruby held in a mocking smile.

  
"So she's had this house for what, ten years, at least? Since her father died. But she doesn't check it out until now? Why?"

  
Before Ruby could answer, the door flew open. A man in a tailored suit walked in, glaring at the officer.

  
"Officer Hunt, I will have to ask you to let my client go. Unless she's under arrest she doesn't have to speak with you, and if she is, she has a right to counsel."

  
Ruby recognized quickly Christina's lawyer, though they'd rarely interacted before. Who else would call Ruby their client?

  
"This is just a formality," the officer replied. "We're trying to clear some facts, alright."

  
He ignored the lawyer and turned to Ruby again.

  
"So, the house?"

  
"You don't have to answer," the lawyer assured.

  
"It's alright," Ruby said. "We've got nothing to hide. No, it's true, Christina had never shown interest in the house until now, but probably because her father's estate is so large that she lets someone else deal with most of it. But she got tired of paying for cleaning duty every month, so she decided to sell it. We thought it wouldn't take more than a week or two. We rented a truck and we drove from Chicago to Ardham..."


	2. The Ardham Lodge

They'd spent the night in Buffalo before making their way to Ardham. The road was as clear as the sky. They left the highway, snaked through small towns and back roads. The sun disappeared through the trees as they passed an old roofed bridge. The radio began cutting out, and when Ruby grew tired of the static, she turned it off.

  
"Let's hope the cell reception is better at the Lodge."

  
"I can't confirm that," Christina said.

  
It wasn't often that the blonde looked dwarfed by something, but the wheel of the truck was wider than the one of her usual car, and she looked like she would struggle to turn it when she needed to.

  
"I'm certain there's a phone, though, so at least you can call Leti once we arrive."

  
Ruby sighed. It was just the matter of a week, two at most anyway. Still, the last time they'd been without signal, they'd been trapped underground in a ruined pyramid no one but them had seen.

  
She looked out of the window. When the rows of trees on either side of the road disappeared, they were replaced by large expanses of grass. It didn't last long, however, and soon they were back under the shadow of the trees.

  
"Please tell me we're almost there."

  
"At the end of the road," Christina promised.

  
She took Ruby's hands in hers, squeezed it affectionately, then put both hands back on the wheel. When they emerged out of the trees again, Ruby thought she saw chimneys and part of a roof peaking from over the trees.

  
"Is that it?" she said, pointing to the bricks above the forest.

  
"No, I don't think so. From the pictures I saw, the Lodge has a glass dome on top."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"Of course it does. What else does it have?"

  
"Let's see... fifteen bedrooms, an indoor garden, a reception hall, a library, a game room, an observatory, an elevator, and stables."

  
Ruby couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Who needed such a large house with so many rooms in their summer home? The amount of money thrown out of the window, not just by Christina's ancestors, but by the person who would for some reason buy this isolated mansion nowadays was absurd. And it wasn't like Christina needed the money away. She was just tired of paying the cleaning duty every month to keep the house in order. Though Ruby was grateful that the crew had cleaned the mansion the day before their arrival. If there was one thing worse than being stuck in an isolated mansion with no internet for a week, it was being stuck in an isolated mansion in disrepair.

  
"I see it," Christina said, pulling Ruby out of her thoughts.

  
Ruby leaned to the front of the car to see ahead of them. A massive building of red bricks rose high above the trees. Ruby saw thin towers and chimneys, straight as poles. Atop the slanted roofs was a large glass dome on which the summer sun reflected.

  
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ruby muttered at the sight.

  
Christina chuckled.

  
"I told you it as big."

  
"That's not big, that's a royal palace."

* * *

The gravel road ended in front of the house, and Christina parked the truck as close to the house as she could. The gravel front was surrounded by a low brick wall, with puffy bushes behind. Ruby stepped out and couldn't help but stare at the house. There was an overhang above the door made of gray stones when most of the building was made of red bricks. Amongst rooftops and windows and all sorts of architectural ornament Ruby didn't have a word for, she saw parapets above the second floor. Ivy grew abundantly all over the structure, though it had been trimmed around windows so as not to block out the sunlight.

  
"So, what do you think?" Christina asked as she locked the car.

  
She was carrying both of their bags, one in each hand.

  
"It's certainly not what I expected," Ruby confessed.

  
"Me neither. I mean, I saw pictures but to see it in real..."

  
Ruby turned around to take her bag from Christina just as the blonde tried to suppress a shiver.

  
"You alright?"

  
"Yeah," Christina replied. "I just want to be done with it as quickly as possible."

  
They stepped loudly through the gravel and up to the front door. The door was old and covered in a thick coat of lacquer. There was a lion-shaped knocked on the door which somehow hadn't rusted with time. The lock was one of those ancient locks which required a brass key the length of Christina's hand. She pulled it out of her bag and unlocked the door with difficulty.

  
The house smelled like old timber and anti-odor products. They stepped in. There was wood everywhere. The floor was an impeccable parquet wood, partially hidden under a thick red carpet. The walls were mostly wood paneling, with tapestry covering the rest. Wooden pillars lined the walls, in between which paintings were hanging. The ceiling was made of wood, where Ruby could see it anyway. A grand wooden staircase rose in front of them, with a balcony made of delicately sculpted wood, worthy of some old cathedral.  
Christina flicked a switch on, and all of the lights hanging from the ceiling turned on. The yellow light was trapped behind glass lampshades, sending strange distorted shadows dancing on the walls.

  
"Let's find a room and then we can take a tour," Christina decided.

  
They walked up the stairs to the first floor and down the hallway. Fixtures on the walls helped light the dark corridors. Every door in the hallways was closed. Christina opened the nearest one. Without surprise, there was just more wood inside. A double bed with a heavy-looking frame sat against the wall, hidden away under a cloth. Another piece of cloth covered the massive wardrobe near the door. Drawn curtains hid the window. On the left side of the room was a table and a couch in front of an empty fireplace. The expensive carpet looked like it had seen better days.

  
Ruby dropped her suitcase near the bed and went to open the curtains. They faced the back of the mansion, where a large meadow of perfectly cut grass extended to the trees.

  
"Jesus Christ," Ruby said. "How far does the property extend?"

  
Christina came to look over her shoulder.

  
"I'm not sure, actually. There has to be a property line somewhere."

  
"You're welcome to find it," Ruby said sarcastically. "But I'm not coming after you."

  
Christina kissed Ruby's cheek quickly before going to open her bag. Out of it, she pulled a single long roll of yellowing paper. She unrolled it on the table. Ruby went to sit on the couch beside her. It was a map of all four floors. On the highest floor was only one large room labeled 'observatory'. Most of the second and first floors were occupied by bedrooms. Larger rooms occupied the ground floor, including a circular one under the dome labeled 'garden'.

  
"Oh, no basement?" Ruby asked with mocked disappointment.

  
"No underground adventures this time," Christina chuckled.

  
She rolled up the map and picked it up.

  
"I think there isn't much to take in the bedrooms, but we can check later. But the ground floor is going to be a mess."

  
They walked back to the entrance hall, map in hand. Christina went to the right, and so Ruby followed. They entered the living room. A large fireplace sat against the opposite wall and the windows at the front of the house lit the room. A comfortable if out of style couch occupied most of the space in front of the fireplace, with a small table in between. In the corner, in a cabinet, was an old blocky television set. Against the wall was also an old record player, and shelves of trinkets, figurines, and miniature boats.

  
"I hope we brought enough bubble wrap for all of these," Christina said as she picked up an old porcelain figure from a shelf, a little boy carrying a lamb over his shoulders.

  
"When was the last time your family was around here?" Ruby asked as she inspected the record collection shelved by the record player.

  
"In the early 80s, I think," Christina said as she carefully placed the trinket back on the shelf. "Father was never very forthcoming with information, as usual, but we have employment logs. 1981 is when they fired all the resident staff and hired the monthly cleaning crew, so I figured by then they knew they weren't coming back."

  
"Why not sell it then?"

  
Christina shrugged as she came to look at the records too.

  
"God if I know."

  
Most of the records were of classical music, operas recorded live, and a surprisingly large number of Christmas records.

  
"I'll let you sort these out," Christina said.

  
"There's bound to be at least a few good things in this collection of old Boston snob music," Ruby replied, making Christina chuckled.

  
They moved out of the room and into a corridor. There was a door ahead of them, but Christina followed the corridor to the right. It led back to the entrance hall on the left, and the inner garden to the right.

  
The garden was surprisingly well kept. It was a circular room, the exact size and shape of the glass dome three stories above it. In all four corners of the room were rose bushes, cut into the vague shapes of rectangles. A paved path led through the garden and around its centerpiece, a bronze fountain. The fountain represented a curvy naked woman, probably some sort of goddess, Ruby reasoned. Her eyes were closed, and a crow was standing on her extended hand. Snakes seemed to dance at her feet. A sun-like halo behind her head, made from a ring of glass, was reflecting the sunlight.

  
"I see your family's taste in women hasn't changed much since the house was built," Ruby joked.

  
Christina turned around with an amused smile.

  
"What can I say? Us Braithwhites have good taste."

  
As there was nothing to clear in the garden, they exited through the same way they'd come in and walked down the hallway. More paintings hung on either side, old family portraits and images of journeys overseas and still lifes. There was a door ahead of them, and they walked in to find the dining room.

  
A uselessly long table occupied the center of the room. Ruby counted twenty-six chairs, twelve on each side and one on each end. At the end of the room was another fireplace. A large buffet under the windows caught Christina's attention quickly. She crouched in front of it, the map tugged under her armpit. The key had been left in the lock, and she unlocked one of the buffet's door. Inside were stacks of china plates of all sizes, with gold on the rim. Ruby assumed the silverware must have been hidden behind another one of the doors.

  
"We're definitely going to need more bubble wrap," Ruby said at the sight of the plates.

  
Christina could only sigh in agreement.

  
"I'll go into town if we run out. Hopefully, I won't have to drive to Boston to find some."

  
She locked the door again and brushed her hands on her shorts as she stood up. There was a second door leading out of the room, which brought them back to the same hallway. It forked, continuing for a few more feet to the right, while another path ahead of them traversed the mansion's length.

  
"The kitchen should be over there," Christina said as she checked the map again.

  
The kitchen was beside the dining room. It was the smallest room they'd seen so far, with what at the time must have been modern appliances, but not were retro, close to dangerous equipment. Ruby would rather starve than use the microwave. Christina left the map on the counter-top and opened the fridge. As per her instructions, it had been stacked by the cleaning crew.

  
"That's one less thing to worry about."

  
Christina shut the fridge with difficulty, as it seemed the door wouldn't cooperate for a moment before she put more force into it.

  
"It'll have to do for this week."

  
She picked up the map. They left the kitchen through another door and arrived in a massive ballroom. Christina's map marked it as the 'reception hall'. A grandiose crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. There was another fireplace here, and long windows all over the left side of the room. The back of the house, Ruby imagined. A set of double doors led to a stone terrace and a set of stairs leading down to the garden if the huge property could even be considered a garden. An expensive grand piano sat in a corner of the room, the keys hidden under the lid. Ruby unveiled them, her hand passing over the keys. She did not doubt that all of the white pieces were made of ivory.

  
"Too bad we can't bring this one back," Christina said as she moved closer to the instrument.

  
Ruby chuckled.

  
"Where would we fit a grand piano? Especially since neither of us knows how to play."

  
"It would be a learning opportunity," Christina suggested.

  
"I'll stick to my guitar if you don't mind."

  
The keys were hidden away again. Christina struggled a moment with the old double doors, but she finally managed to open the access to the terrace. There were more bushes all around the house, and the gravel path seemed to lead beneath them.

  
"I think the stables are beneath us," Christina said as she tried to find them on the map.

  
"Please tell me the horses were released a long time ago."

  
Christina smirked as she looked up from the map.

  
"Oh, and here I thought you'd like to have a pony."

  
"Even when I was five I didn't want a pony."

  
"Well, I wanted one."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes with amusement.

  
"Of course you did. And did you get it?"

  
"Fortunately for the pony, no."

* * *

They hung on the terrace a moment, enjoying the summer air. Then, they returned inside to inspect the rooms they'd yet to see. Further down the corridor, they found the elevator, some old rickety contraption which reminded Ruby of the one in Leti's home.

  
"Let's not use the elevator," she said at the sight of it.

  
"Agreed."

  
The room beside it was the parlor, or as it was specified on Christina's map, the 'game room'. A long pool table sat on one side, while the other was occupied by a table with six chairs. There were a couch and two armchairs by the fireplace, and a shelf filled with glass bottles. Rifles and shotguns and revolvers hung on one of the walls, under the mounted head of a deer. In a cabinet, Christina found boxes of games, from the most dignified on top to the children's games at the bottom. Another door led them into the library.

  
Yet another fireplace awaited them there, and shelves upon shelves filled with books. The carpet in the middle of the room had stains Ruby suspected to be coffee. Apparently, long nights among books was another Braithwhite tradition. All of the books were hardcovers, old editions bound in cloth or leather, with yellowing pages.

  
"This room alone is going to take a week to empty," Ruby said.

  
"We don't have to sort them yet," Christina said. "Just put them in boxes."

  
The door out led them back to the hallway, across from the living room door.

  
"Is this the last room?"

  
"I think so."

  
Christina checked the map just to be sure.

  
"No, wait. There's the office."

  
The office had only one access, from the entrance hall. When Christina pressed down on the handle, she found the door locked. She handed the map to Ruby and pulled the keys out of her pocket. They were all so similar that she struggled for a moment to find the right one. Finally, one fitted in and turned all the way. She pushed the heavy door open.

  
The office was filled with an empty desk, two empty cabinets, and one shelf full of books.

  
"Well, that sorts it out..." Christina said. "At least that's something less to clean up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that the stage is set, the story can start...  
> See you guys tomorrow!


	3. These Squares Were Made to Play Hopscotch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning Ruby and Christina set out to empty the house

Christina slept with ease, falling into unconsciousness almost the instant she went to bed. Ruby struggled to find sleep for a moment. The old mattress was hard. Despite the summer air, the house was cold, and Ruby shivered until she grew tired of shivering, and slid under the blanket. However, then, between the blanket and Christina beside her, she grew uncomfortably hot. When she finally fell asleep, half of her body was out of the blanket, and the other draped with her girlfriend.

  
After breakfast, they set out to work.

  
"I'll start with the game room," Christina decided.

  
"Ah, yes, a completely normal room to have in a house," Ruby replied.

  
Then, she sighed.

  
"I'll take the library. The sooner we start this one the faster we'll get out of here."

  
Armed with folded cardboard boxes, they each went into their rooms. Since she imagined her phone wouldn't be much use with such a bad connection, Ruby put on some music, loud enough so that it could be heard both in the library and the game room.

  
Ruby began with the highest shelves. Thankfully, there was a ladder attached to the wall, even if it meant that she had to make trips up and down the ladder as she worked. She stacked up the books in a box without paying much attention to the titles. A few she recognized, others had seriously offensive titles that she'd rather forget she'd ever read. Once the box was filled to the brim, barely able to close, she used the collapsible wagon to carry the heavy box to the back of the truck.

  
From time to time, Ruby sang along with the music. In rarer moments still, she heard Christina mumbling along with the song. Christina was by no means a good singer, she'd need a lot more practice for that, but Ruby stilled to listen to her nonetheless. It always put a smile on her lips, to know that she'd rubbed off on the blonde. She wondered which traits of Christina's personality had bled onto her in their time together.

  
They took a short break for lunch. Christina made them sandwiches and they sat around the kitchen.

  
"You'd have to be insane to buy this place," Ruby said between two bites. "Who the hell needs so many bedrooms?"

  
Christina shrugged, washing down her sandwich with fresh water.

  
"I think it would make a good hotel. One of those super exclusive hotels where rich people go on 'spiritual retreat'. They can even build a golf course behind. I mean, I would have done it, but I don't care. Being the owner of a hotel is too messy."

  
"And if you can't sell? If no one's interested?"

  
"I guess it'll just sit here... and rot."

  
There was no dishwasher, so Ruby offered to do the dishes quickly before going back to work. Once she was done, she found Christina seating in the middle of the game room, surrounded by old game boxes.

  
"You okay?" Ruby asked.

  
Christina was looking down at a box filled with wooden chess pieces, a slight frown on her face.

  
"Yeah, just trying to figure out why my ancestors had five different chess-sets."

  
Ruby chuckled.

  
"Alright. Howler if you somehow end up trapped under all of the boxes."

  
She returned to the library and pulled more books from the shelves.

* * *

By the middle of the afternoon, Ruby had successfully cleared half of the library. It all held in fifteen filled-to-the-brim boxes, now sitting at the back of their rental. Ruby allowed herself a moment to breathe before she got back to work. Just then, Christina came in, whistling what Ruby thought sounded like Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good', but it was so out of tune she wasn't so sure.

  
"Can I borrow the wagon?" she asked. "I'm done with the game room, I'll come to help you in a moment."

  
"Yeah, go ahead."

  
Christina returned to the game room with the wagon. Ruby took a sip of her water and rested the glass on the mantelpiece of the fireplace. Then, she stepped back onto the ladder and pulled out more books. She heard Christina heaving heavy boxes onto the wagon. This was why Ruby put the boxes on the wagon before they grew too heavy to carry.

  
A moment later, Christina traversed the library, the small black wagon dragging behind her as three boxes balanced precariously on top.

  
"I'll load these up and I'll be right there."

  
Ruby heard the squeaky wheels of the wagon echo in the entrance hall. Her phone was still playing music, though she was so focused on doing her task quickly that she'd mostly tuned it out by now. She climbed down the ladder, piled a few books at the bottom of the box, and climbed back up.

  
"What are you doing here?"

  
Ruby jumped in surprise, but at the good sense to hold onto the ladder so she wouldn't fall. She turned around. The high-pitched, childish voice belonged to a little girl. She mustn't have been older than eight or nine. She had bright red hair, held in two pigtails, with pink ribbons at the end. She had piercing green eyes, like two emeralds, and freckles all over her pale face. She was wearing a flower-patterned dress with stained sneakers and ankle-high socks. The socks used to be white, but now they were dirty. She was holding a soccer ball in her hands and looking at Ruby curiously, expectantly.

  
"Jesus, you scared me..."

  
"My apologies, I didn't mean to," the girl said.

  
Ruby climbed down the ladder.

  
"How did you come in here?" she asked.

  
"Through the front door," the girl replied as if it were obvious. "I come to play here, usually, but I saw the door was open and I wanted to see why. Sometimes people come to clean up, but you don't look like you're cleaning up."

  
Ruby frowned slightly. The girl was exactly like the kind of smart-ass kid she imagined Christina to have been as a child. Too wise for their good, always pointing out things to adults.

  
"Who are you?" she asked.

  
"My name is Rose Faulkner," the girl said, extending her hand.

  
Ruby shook the little hand gently.

  
"Ruby Baptiste. Do you leave nearby?"

  
"Yes, in the big house over there," Rose replied, pointing through the wall toward what Ruby assumed was the big house they'd seen on their way here.

  
"Are you moving in?" Rose asked. "It looks like you're taking everything out."

  
"We are," Ruby replied. "My girlfriend is going to sell the house, so we're emptying it first."

  
"That's quite sad. It's a really nice house. If it could be mine I would take it. How much is she selling it for?" Rose asked seriously.

  
Ruby couldn't help but chuckle.

  
"Probably more than you can afford."

  
"My family is very rich, you know."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"I don't doubt it. But they already have a house here, why would they buy another one?"

  
"That is true..." Rose said thoughtfully. "It was nice meeting you, miss Baptiste."

  
Rose walked through the door and disappeared into the entrance hall. Ruby was still rather confused by the whole interaction if a bit amused. Since it seemed Rose had left, she decided to climb back up on the ladder. A moment later, Christina walked back in, dragging an empty wagon.

  
"Who were you talking to?" she asked.

  
"Didn't you see her?" Ruby asked with a frown. "This little girl. Rose Faulkner, I think she said her name was. She's in the house we passed."

  
Christina shrugged.

  
"She must have sneaked past me. Faulkner, you say? I've never heard the name before."

  
Christina came to stand under the ladder and took the books Ruby handed her. Still, she was thoughtful, trying to remember anything she could about the neighboring house, and finding that she couldn't remember anything at all.

* * *

Together they managed to clear the library during the rest of the afternoon. Once Christina understood that placing the boxes on the wagon before they were too heavy was a good idea, they made quick work of the room. Ruby's phone had died soon before they finished, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable and didn't need to be filled.

  
When they finished, they had half a box full which Ruby wanted to fill before the end of the day.

  
"I'll go to the office," she decided.

  
"Okay. I'll start unhooking all of the paintings."

  
Ruby pulled the box along to the entrance hall. She pressed down on the handle but found it stuck. She pressed harder, but still, the door wouldn't budge.

  
"Hey, Chris? Did you lock the office again?" she shouted.

  
"Not that I can remember. Here."

  
She went back to the game room to get the keys, then handed them to Ruby.

  
"Maybe jam the door with something. I'd hate for you to get stuck inside."

  
"You and me both."

  
Ruby unlocked the door. She pushed the door and quickly pulled a pile of heavy books out of the shelf, and jammed the door with them. She placed the keys on the desk and set out to empty this bookshelf too. This one contained fewer fiction books and more science books. She pulled out an assorted series on 'the art of economics' and stuffed them in the box with an eye roll. Once again she found some questionable books and added them to the pile.

  
Once the box was full, there was just about half a shelf left to clear. She thought she could take care of it before they stopped for the day. Maybe Christina had been right, maybe they would be done and gone by the end of the week. She turned to the door and found it was closed. She frowned and cursed her luck. The books hadn't been as strong a door stopper as she'd planned. She pressed down on the handle but found it wouldn't budge, as if it had locked on its own again. Ruby sighed and reached for the keys on the desk. She unlocked the door and stored the keys in her shorts pocket. As she pulled the wagon out of the room, she saw Christina up on the stairs' balcony, unhooking the painting there.

  
"This door is a menace!" she shouted at her girlfriend.

  
"It locked again?" Christina said with astonishment.

  
"I'm almost done in there," Ruby said. "I'll clear the last books and take the painting out and we won't have to deal with the office ever again."

  
Christina continued her climb up through the house, pulling all the paintings off of the walls. Ruby dragged the wagon out of the house. The truck had been moved to sit as close to the door as possible, a small metal ramp making the access inside easier. The boxes of books already occupied large chunks of it. Three boxes were piled to the truck's roof in rows of five. Ruby pulled the heavy one on top of another, then pulled the wagon out of the truck.

  
She returned to the office door, and of course, it was locked again. She searched her pockets but found nothing. She frowned. She searched again. She was certain the keys had been in her pocket when she'd left the room. Her heart stopped in her chest. What if she'd forgotten them in the room? She'd hated for Christina to have to break one of the doors open just because she'd forgotten the keys inside. Even worse, this keyring also held the house's key, the one they needed to lock the front door. She padded her pockets worriedly again, then turned around, thinking she might have left them in the truck. To her relief, the keys were sitting in the middle of the entrance hall, on the carpet. This was why she hadn't heard them falling out of her pocket. She picked them up with a sigh.

  
Ruby was done emptying the office, keeping the door jammed with the wagon when she heard Christina coming down the stairs. She leaned over the balcony and said:

  
"Can you throw me the keys? The observatory's locked too."

  
"Hold on, I'm coming up."

  
Ruby left the wagon and the painting by the office door and climbed up. She handed the keys to her girlfriend and followed her up.

  
"Do you have spares? With all of these self-locking doors, I'm scared we might end up stuck in a room with the keys on the other side."

  
"Unfortunately, it's the only set. But don't worry, if you end up stuck in a room, I'll come to save you."

  
They climbed to the top floor and a single door at the top of the stairs. Christina unlocked it. The observatory was the simplest and least decorated room in the entire house. The hole in the roof through which a telescope could have been used was shut. Not a book or instrument was left on the tables. Only a single painting still hung on the wall, representing the book of Genesis. Christina unhooked it and picked it up. She checked behind, but there was no date or even signature.

  
"I'll put it in the hall."

  
"Do we call it a day?" Ruby asked.

  
"Yeah, I think we did enough today."

  
Ruby sighed with relief. She was ready to collapse on the couch and wait until dinner time to move again. Christina passed beside her, kissing her cheek.

  
"Good work."

  
Ruby chuckled.

  
"You too. Good work for someone who's never lifted a finger in her life," she replied.

  
Christina said nothing, but her laughter echoed around the staircase as they made their way down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter dedicated to emptying bookshelves. Tomorrow's chapter is going to be much much more entertaining, I promise ;)


	4. Game Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Christina spend the evening playing games

They worked on dinner together. Christina made a mess out of cutting an onion but she delivered it on time for Ruby to finish cooking. She remembered at the last moment not to rub her eyes, even if she'd washed her hands. She suggested making the table in the dining room, but Ruby thought it was ridiculous that they ate on such a huge table when it was just the two of them. Christina thought it was half of the fun, but she set the table in the empty game room.

  
As they ate, Ruby noticed a chess-set on an empty cupboard.

  
"Did you forget one?" she asked, pointing to the set with her fork.

  
Christina turned around and looked in the direction Ruby had pointed to.

  
"No, I couldn't find a box for this one and the pieces are in marble. I don't want to break them, so better leave them behind."

  
Christina continued to eat, but Ruby looked back at the set.

  
"Do you know how to play?" she asked.

  
"Yeah, why?"

  
Ruby stood up, her bare feet padding lightly across the parquet floor as she went to pick the chess-set up.

  
"We need something to entertain ourselves this evening," she said as she picked it up.

  
"I could think of a few things..." Christina purred, and Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
She set the board on the table beside them.

  
"Do you know how to play?" Christina asked as she finished her plate quickly.

  
"Vaguely. I think Atticus taught Leti and she tried to teach me."

  
The mention of Tic was less painful to Christina now, though she still pursed her lips. She looked down at the board.

  
"Do you remember how the pieces move, at least?"

  
"I think I do. I'm sure it'll come back to me if we play."

  
Christina wanted to take the time to explain it to Ruby, but she knew it would only annoy her girlfriend. Instead, she picked up a white pawn, and black pawn, and shuffled them behind her back before holding both hands out.

  
"Which color?"

  
Ruby tapped Christina's right hand, revealing the white pawn inside.

  
"You start."

  
As Ruby picked up the piece, Christina closed her hand, holding Ruby's hand in hers just a moment. The board was turned so the right color faced the right player. Ruby looked at the rows of pieces in front of her, then at Christina who was staring at her, waiting. There was a predatory glim in her blue eyes as if she were already planning all of her moves.

  
"Isn't there a thing where I can move my first pawn two squares?" Ruby asked.

  
"Every time you move a pawn for the first time, it can advance two squares."

  
Ruby nodded and pursed her lips thoughtfully. She picked a piece somewhat at random and advanced it forward. When she looked at Christina, the blonde was still staring at her, her eyes darting between her eyes and her lips.

  
"Your turn."

  
Christina moved a pawn two squares forward, a calculating smile never leaving her lips. Already Ruby was regretting suggesting chess.

  
"Your turn," Christina said in a low voice, her eyes back on Ruby.

  
"You keep staring at me I'm going to start thinking you're head is not in the game," Ruby said as she looked down at the board, and tentatively moved another pawn.

  
Christina smirked. She captured Ruby's pawn with her next move and said:

  
"I can admire you and win. The two are quite compatible, actually."

  
"And if you lose?"

  
Ruby moved a rook forward.

  
"I won't. I've never lost to anyone before."

  
"Take it as a lesson of humility then."

* * *

About an hour later, Ruby called a draw. She'd put up quite a fight, but she'd grown bored of the game, and she was too tired to think about so many moving pieces, making more and more mistakes. Christina relented, pretending to be chivalrous when in reality she was vexed that Ruby had held on for as long as she had, and even a bit worried of the outcome, had they continued to play.

  
"It's a good waste of time," Ruby said as she stood up to set the board back on the cupboard.

  
Christina picked up their plates and was about to head into the kitchen to do the dishes when she heard Ruby.

  
"You left the pool cues too?"

  
She paused by the doorway and turned around. Ruby had pulled one of the cues from the table, inspecting its end.

  
"No point in taking them since we can't take the table."

  
Ruby smirked.

  
"How about a game? To see who's really the best?"

  
Christina shook her head.

  
"Chess and pool are nothing alike."

  
"You scared I'll win? Because I will."

  
Christina's eyes narrowed at Ruby. The challenge was accepted.

  
"Give me a second."

  
Christina hurried through the corridor to the kitchen, where she left the plates and silverware in the sink. Then, she returned to the game room, taking a deep breath. Ruby was setting up the game when she arrived. Christina took the other cue and said:

  
"I'll break. I take the stripes."

  
"Fine by me."

  
Christina leaned over the pool table, her denim shorts hiking up just a bit higher with the motion. Behind her, Ruby stared at her long pale legs, only looking back at the table once she heard the sound of the balls being pushed apart. Christina stepped away, determination set on her features. She gestured for Ruby to take her turn. Ruby looked at the table and found that most of the solid-colored balls were out of reach. She thought she might bounce the cue ball off of the wall and reach the red ball. She leaned forward to aim, and from the other side of the table, Christina stared at her cleavage. Her sleeveless shirt had a low cut, giving a perfect view to the blonde who bit her lower lip.

  
When Ruby straightened up, she instantly noticed the staring.

  
"Is there a moment when you won't be staring at me like you're about to eat me up?" she asked with fainted annoyance.

  
"Maybe when I don't have eyes anymore. Actually, you should have a penalty for that. You're too distracting."

  
"By all means, put a blindfold over your eyes if it helps you win."

  
Christina smirked and leaned over the table to take her next shot. She took one last long at Ruby, her eyes raking up and down her girlfriend's body, before she took her shot, pocketing the 14.

  
"You know what, I don't need it."

* * *

It was a tense battle, one which Ruby led for most of the game. In between each other's turn, they would stare longingly at the other. It was Ruby's undoing, in the end, as she didn't pay close enough attention to the table, and lost her focus when it mattered. She accidentally pocketed the 8 instead of getting the last one she needed, allowing Christina the perfect opportunity to win.

  
As the eighth ball sank in the pocket with a satisfying sound, Christina smiled pridefully. She turned around to Ruby.

  
"Don't."

  
"What? I won."

  
"I want a rematch."

  
"Fine."

  
In the second round, Ruby won. Christina took her title back on the third, when she brushed past Ruby at the worst possible time, on accident she said, and her hands caressed Ruby's ass.

  
"Stop cheating," Ruby complained.

  
"I'm not, how could I be?"

  
"We need another game. Something with no movement that could distract us."

  
"I've got cards in the bedroom, if you want," Christina suggested.

  
"You brought cards?"

  
"No, I found it in here. I liked the design of the back, so I thought I'd keep it."

  
They left the cues on the pool table and after turning off the lights in the room, they walked up the stairs to their bedroom. Sure enough, a deck of cards sat on the table, next to the rolled-up map of the house. Ruby picked them up and opened the deck. The back of the cards was black and gold, with hypnotic spirals that almost looked like stars.

  
"It's nice alright."

  
Christina sat on one side of the couch. Ruby took the other, shuffling the cards with a practiced hand.

  
"So, what are we playing?"

  
"Poker."

  
Ruby laughed.

  
"You really want to lose tonight, don't you?"

  
"No better way to prove that I'm better than beating you at your own game."

  
"When did this become about who was better?" Ruby asked with an amused smile.

  
"Alright then. What is it about?"

  
Ruby thought for a moment. There was only one way to absolutely humiliate Christina while taunting her into playing.

  
"How about the loser has to take off a piece of clothing?" Ruby suggested with a smirk.

  
"What happened to no distraction?"

  
"Oh, it won't be a problem for you, since I'm not going to lose."

  
"Fine. Deal us in."

  
Ruby distributed the cards. Christina picked up her two cards and shifted her legs. The bite mark on her heel was still visible, despite the year of healing. The claw marks on Ruby's arm had healed slightly better, leaving faint lines of newer skin behind.

  
Ruby stared into Christina's blue eyes, the blonde staring back. Neither betrayed the hand they held. Christina's gaze quickly darted to Ruby's lips before returning to her eyes. Ruby fought the urge to look at the blonde's lips. She revealed the first three cards instead. Their eyes flickered to them, their faces betraying nothing.

  
"You're not as good at bluffing as you think you are," Ruby said with a smirk.

  
"I don't have to bluff."

  
"I know your tell."

  
"I don't have one. Can you just unveil the next card?"

  
Ruby felt she had good chances. If her father had taught her anything, it was that luck favored the smart, but Christina was too smart to think of something as trivial as luck. She placed another card between. Worry passed over Christina's feature for the fraction of a second, and Ruby was quick enough to pick up on it.

  
"Do you want to fold?"

  
"And let you win when I have such a good hand? No thank you."

  
"Suit yourself."

  
Ruby unveiled the last card, then showed her hand, two pairs. Christina clicked her tongue with frustration.

  
"You didn't shuffle the cards well enough," she said, showing off the empty hand she held.

  
"You're welcome to shuffle them if you want to."

  
Christina was about to reach for the cards, but Ruby shook her head.

  
"You lost. Off."

  
Christina, visibly aggravated, pulled off her shirt. The pale lines over her collar bone were the only other scars she had from their trip under Mount Everett. She threw her shirt on the carpet and reached for the cards.

  
"I hope you're ready to be fleeced," she said as she dealt new cards.

* * *

Christina grossly underestimated Ruby's talent as a poker player. Round after round passed swiftly with little to no victories for the blonde. Even after she'd shuffled the cards, she lost the second round, forcing her to stand up and take her shorts off.

  
"This is why playing strip poker in the summer is a terrible idea," she said with a frustrated sigh.

  
"We can stop anytime you want," Ruby said with amusement.

  
Despite her two losses, Christina was determined to get back into the game. In nothing but her underwear, shivering against the cold night air of the house, she managed to first bring the game to a draw, and then win against Ruby. Ruby folded, certain that her girlfriend had better than her, and also because she took pity on her a bit.

  
"Your turn to take something off," Christina said hungrily.

  
"Fair is fair," Ruby conceded innocently.

  
She reached under her shirt and pulled off the straps of her bra, undoing the clasp and removing it without taking off her shirt. She threw it on the carpet with Christina's clothes.

  
"That's not fair!"

  
"You should have thought about it before you took your shirt off," Ruby replied and shuffled the cards again.

  
It became even harder for Christina to focus as Ruby's breasts strained against the almost see-through material of her shirt. She lost another round, and with irritation, she took off her bra.

  
"We can stop," Ruby suggested.

  
"I'm going to win if it's the last thing I do," Christina replied.

  
Ruby's eyes passed over her body.

  
"Sure."

  
The last round was dealt and swiftly won by Ruby. She waited for Christina to admit her defeat.

  
"Aren't you going to take it off?"

  
Christina smirked.

  
"Why doesn't the winner take it off herself?"

  
Ruby leaned over the cards, crawling over the couch to get to Christina. She meant to reach for the band of her underwear but paused. Then, she crept away. Christina's brow furrowed in confusion, then a shudder ran through her entire body. Ruby kissed her hip, just above the edge of the undergarment. Christina shuttered. Ruby got a hold of the lace underwear between her teeth, pulling on it lightly, revealing just a bit more skin, which she kissed. As she finally wrapped her fingers under the elastic band, Christina got a hold of the collar of her shirt and pulled her closer. They kissed deeply. Ruby pulled the last article of clothing off. She threw it on the carpet. Christina remained silent at first, her mouth otherwise occupied until she triumphantly pulled Ruby's shirt off of her.

  
"See, I told you I'd win in the end."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you this chapter was going to be very interesting...  
> And yes, before you asked, I binged-watched The Queen's Gambit right before writing this...  
> I'm supposed to be posting a one-shot today. It's a Hollywood AU, it's called "Eden's Not for Us" and it is really good, I'm sure you guys will love it. However, I have a lot of work to do for school, with all my finals coming up next week, so I'm not allowed to post it until I've done all the work I have to do. It's the only way to motivate me into doing it, I'm sorry but it's how it is. And if I don't post it until tonight then I don't post it until tonight, but I won't go to bed until I do.  
> Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow with more spooky, and I hope to see you then!


	5. The Neighbors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christina hears strange noises at night, and they meet the neighbors...

Christina woke up in the middle of the night. Ruby was holding onto her, skin against skin under the thin itchy blanket. She heard something in the distance. It sounded like scratching, like something scurrying over their heads. At first, she thought she was dreaming, still caught in a nightmare. She'd hallucinated scratching before, after the events in the pyramid who wouldn't. Still, it sounded so remote, so light, that she fell back to sleep, and forgot she'd ever awakened, thinking it had all been just a dream.

  
The next morning, after breakfast, Christina and Ruby set out to pack the many, many sets of plates in the dining room. Christina grew very tired of packing up plates, and she considered throwing a few on the ground, just for fun. But Ruby convinced her to keep her destructive urges in check because a full set would sell better than just one or two.

  
Ruby was wrapping up silverware when she heard footsteps. Christina was in the kitchen fixing them lunch. But those footsteps came from the entrance hall. Ruby stopped wrapping silver spoons in bubble wrap and stood up. As she followed the hallway to the entrance, she found two people standing near the door. She approached cautiously.

  
A man and a woman were smiling at her. They both had the same red hair, the same piercing green eyes, and the same freckled-covered faces. He wore Capri pants and a short-sleeved polo shirt. She wore a summer dress, her hair in loose long waves. The more Ruby stared at them, the more she thought they looked like twins.

  
"Can I help you?" she asked.

  
"Hi!" the woman said. "We're Rose's parents? The little girl who came by earlier yesterday."

  
Ruby was quick to put on a friendly smile.

  
"Hi."

  
She moved toward them swiftly. The woman held out her hand and Ruby shook it, then shook the man's firmer, colder hand.

  
"I'm Ruby Baptiste."

  
"Rebecca Faulkner, this is my husband Sebastian."

  
"Your daughter said you lived nearby."

  
Rebecca nodded with a polite smile.

  
"Yes, our familiar residence is just up the road. Rose said you were moving out but we've never seen you here before?"

  
Before Ruby could explain, Christina appeared out of the hallway. The couple's eyes flickered over to her. She smoothed her shirt and put on her social mask.

  
"Hello. I didn't know we had guests."

  
Ruby turned to Christina with relief.

  
"This is..."

  
"Hi," Christina took over the conversation. "I'm Christina Braithwhite, Ruby's girlfriend."

  
Ruby braced herself for sneers and rudeness. It wouldn't be the first time in Christina's circles that they would be shunted for their relationship. But the couple didn't seem to care about their relationship. They shared a curious glance, however, and Sebastian asked:

  
"Braithwhite? Really? We haven't seen any Braithwhite around here in years."

  
"We've been very busy," Christina replied.

  
"And you're back now to sell the house?" Rebecca asked.

  
"No point in keeping such a big house when we live so far from it."

  
"Of course. But it's such a shame. A beautiful house like this one. Don't you have a big family to share it with?"

  
The more Rebecca spoke the more Christina grew rigid.

  
"No, there is no big family. And even if there were, I wouldn't care much what they think of me selling the house."

  
Christina's cold voice made the redhead couple freeze. After a second, Rebecca recovered, taking a step back.

  
"It's a shame, really. But should you decide you want company, the entire Faulkner family is home."

  
"That's very kind of you," Christina replied with no kindness. "But we'll be busy cleaning the house and then we'll be on our way."

  
"I see. Well, in case you change your mind, you know where to find us."

  
Rebecca and Sebastian walked out the door, and Christina followed them, shutting the door after them.

  
"That went well," Ruby said.

  
"I hate this kind of people."

  
"I know. It's alright. Hopefully, we'll be gone before they come back. And if they come back, the guns are still on the walls."

  
Christina chuckled and let Ruby embrace her before she walked back to the kitchen.

* * *

Christina was awakened by scratching sounds in the middle of the night. She heard them as distinctly as one would hear music. Faint, scurrying sound running around them, surrounding them, almost. She sat up and looked around. The bedroom was dark, only illuminated by the glow of the moon outside the window. The sounds wouldn't stop. It was as if hundreds of rats were walking above them and under them all at once.

  
Beside her, Ruby grumbled, having been awakened by the shift of the mattress.

  
"Did you have a nightmare again?" she asked tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

  
"Do you hear that?" Christina whispered.

  
Ruby pushed herself up with one arm and listened attentively. After a moment, she heard it too. The sound of scratching on the ceiling, and under the floor. It sounded so similar to the creatures in the pyramid that Ruby felt a jolt of adrenaline.

  
"It's not..." she began worriedly.

  
Christina shook her head.

  
"It can't be. It has to be rats or something."

  
"Rats?"

  
"But the cleaning team would have told me if there were rats," Christina reasoned.

  
Her mind was fully awake now, pondering over all the various possibilities of what could be causing the sound.

  
"What do we do if it's rats?" Ruby asked as she lay back down against her pillow.

  
"I'll call someone tomorrow. But it can't be rats."

  
"Just go back to sleep," Ruby said, wrapping one hand around Christina's arm.

  
Christina's head hit her pillow, but sleep wouldn't return. She let Ruby fall asleep against her shoulder. The scratching wouldn't stop. It drowned out her thoughts, and soon enough, she could only think of the rats above them, or under them, or both. She tried to close her eyes but they flew open on their own. How could it be rats? She had no doubts there had to be rats around here, but an entire colony, loud enough to make such a noise? And no one would have noticed before?

  
The scratching continued for a good hour. Almost as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Still, the sound resounded in Christina's ears. Her brain had recorded it, and now her mind was playing it back to her. Eventually, she must have collapsed from exhaustion alone. She was woken up when Ruby got out of bed in the morning, her eyes still burning with fatigue.

  
"Did I dream the scratching last night or was that real?" Ruby asked while they were having breakfast.

  
"It was real alright. Kept me up."

  
Ruby offered a sympathetic smile to her girlfriend.

  
"Do you want to go back to sleep?"

  
Christina looked at the already half-drank cup of coffee.

  
"It's a bit late for that. And no, we're almost done with the first floor. I'd rather be done here and not have to worry about sleeping under a colony of rats longer than we have to."

  
Still, Christina stiffened a yawn. She took another sip of coffee and said:

  
"I'll call an exterminator, see if he can find anything."

  
"With a noise like that, I'd be surprised if he doesn't," Ruby said before taking a swig of her coffee.

  
The old plastic telephone on the wall rang and Ruby reached for it.

  
"Hello?"

  
After a moment of silence, she said:

  
"One second."

  
She turned to Christina.

  
"It's for you."

  
Christina placed her cup on the nearby counter and went to get the phone.

  
"Christina Braithwhite speaking."

  
Ruby took a sip of coffee while she listened to half of the phone conversation.

  
"Yes, of course, I'd like to avoid any further delays. Could you give me a few days to sort it out? Yes, that's perfect. Thank you, sir. Good day."

  
She hung up and turned to see Ruby looking at her over her cup.

  
"What was it?" Ruby asked.

  
"Nothing that can't wait until we go back home," Christina assured as she went back to her cup, trying to ignore Ruby's suspicious gaze.

* * *

Christina decided to pack up all of the paintings, in case any rats would have the bright idea to munch on them. Meanwhile, Ruby packed all of the records in the living room.

  
She began her tour of the house with the ones in the entrance hall. There was a portrait of her illustrious great-great-great-etc... uncle Titus near the entrance. It was heavy, and she picked it up unceremoniously. Her uncle was looking severely at her as she placed him in the truck. She left the painting against the wall of the truck and went back to the entrance hall. There, she picked up the paintings from the office room and the observatory. The Genesis scene looked just as strange as it had the night before, though it took her a moment to understand why. It was only when she placed it in the truck that she figured it out. Adam and Eve were having sex under the tree of knowledge, and the snake seemed to be enjoying the view. Christina glanced at Titus' portrait, wondering if he'd commissioned the painting, or if another one of her ancestors had. She hid Titus with it and hid the Genesis scene with the painting of a boat at sea, the rough waves rocking it to the left.

  
She walked up the stairs and picked up a still life on the balcony, another still life in the corridor of the first floor, and tugged under her arm the portrait of someone she didn't recognize before making her way back down. She walked back and forth between the many bedrooms. Most of the paintings there were still lifes, flowers, fruits, and books immortalized forever on canvas.

  
She stopped in the hallway to pick up the painting there and frowned. She was certain she'd picked up this painting before. It was a boat rocked by heavy waves. The white sails were taut, a single red flag snapping in the wind. But then again, maybe the boat was different. Maybe its inclination in the waves was different. Someone in her family had loved ships, that much was easy to guess. She picked it up and carried it out.

  
She cleared the bedrooms on the second floor. She wondered whether these were worth selling at all. None were very unique pieces, or very interesting. Maybe she should donate them to a museum, she thought. She picked up another portrait under one arm, another still life in the other, and walked back down. She left the paintings in the truck and returned upstairs slowly. Much like Ruby, she was hoping that this wouldn't take too much time. She wanted to be done with this house as quickly as she could.

  
She opened another bedroom on the second floor and found the large painting she'd unhooked the day before resting against the wardrobe. She picked it up, and as she flipped it over, she saw the painting was that of a boat rocked by the waves, a small red flag beat by the heavy wind. How many copies of this painting had her family spread around the house, she couldn't help but think with annoyance. She picked up two others and left the second floor once and for all.

  
"I'm done with the upper floors," Christina said.

  
Ruby's faint voice echoed into the silent house.

  
"Are we running out of space in the truck yet?"

  
"If we arrange a few things it should be fine."

  
"Alright. I'm almost done with the records..."

  
She sighed.

  
"And then I'll move on to the other shelves..."

  
Christina left the paintings in the truck, then went into the hallway. There were three paintings there. She picked up the first one. It was a boat swinging in the waves of a stormy sea. She sighed and picked up the second painting. It was a boat struggling through dark ocean waves. Christina frowned and placed both paintings side by side. They looked almost exactly the same. There were minuscule details, impossible for the eye to see, and yet she could feel them. Fell that those two paintings were different.

  
"Chris?"

  
Christina looked away from the paintings. Ruby was standing beside her, looking mildly worried.

  
"You okay? You've been staring at those for a while."

  
Christina looked back at the paintings. One was of a rowboat in a small quiet cove. The other was a boat in a bottle. She tiredly rubbed her eyes. The lack of sleep was making her see things.

  
"Yeah, I... It's fine. I'll just put them in the truck and finish quickly. I think all of those paintings are getting on my nerves."

  
Still, Ruby looked at her with concern.

  
"Take a break if you need to."

  
"No, it's alright," Christina assured. "I don't need a break."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had to rework it almost as soon as I finished writing it because I realized that the order of events in the chapter didn't make any sense. Now it's much better. More strange and spooky stuff coming tomorrow.  
> I posted Eden's Not for Us last night, so if you haven't had the time to check it out yet, it's just a whole lot of fluff.  
> Anyway, I'll see you guys for the next chapter tomorrow!


	6. The Rats in the Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The exterminator takes a look around the house

The yellow truck of the exterminator parked in the gravel in front of the house in the early hours of the afternoon. The man was in his forties, wearing an old brown uniform. He knocked at the front door, and Christina came to open.

  
"Good afternoon," he said. "I hope I have the right address."

  
Christina politely offered a hand and he shook it.

  
"You do."

  
"It's quite the large place you've got here."

  
"We're selling, actually."

  
She let the man in, keeping a cold polite facade as she led him further into the entrance hall, explaining the situation.

  
"We heard scratching last night, so I suspect that we might have a rat problem. Rats don't look very appealing to buyers."

  
"Obviously."

  
The man looked around the room, to the wooden balcony and the stairs rising high above them.

  
"Well, a big house like this one, I wouldn't be surprised if there were rats. Have you checked the basement or the attic?"

  
"There's no basement, but I can take you to the attic."

  
Christina went to the living room to pick up the keys. Ruby was seating by the shelf, packing up porcelain figurines in the bubble wrap they had left. When she returned to the entrance hall, the exterminator was still looking at the stairs looming over him.

  
"This way."

  
They climbed up silently to the observatory. She unlocked the door and kept it open while the man did his work. He took a flashlight from his belt and began looking in every nook and cranny, crawling under tables for any signs of rats.

  
"And you said you heard scratching?" he asked.

  
"Yes," Christina said, leaned back again the door to keep it from shutting on its own, arms crossed. "It woke us up. It seemed to be coming from both above and under us."

  
"That would be a lot of rats," the man mumbled to himself.

  
After crawling around the room, he looked at the wooden beams above him, and the rooftop beyond.

  
"I can't find anything here. You said there's no basement?"

  
"If there's one, there's no entrance to it."

  
"And the foundation? Do you know if there's access to the house's foundation?"

  
Christina held in an eye roll. The man was simply doing his job, but she was tired and it felt as though he were wasting her time.

  
"Not that I know of."

  
The exterminator turned off his flashlight and said:

  
"I'll take a look around the outside of the house, see if I can't find anything."

  
She escorted him back down and he walked out. Christina left him alone to do his work and went to the kitchen instead. She poured a glass of water and drank half of it. This rat situation was stressing her out more than it should. Old houses like these were bound to have a few rats. The exterminator would take care of it, and they would be able to sell without issue. She just wanted to be done with it as quickly as she could. The last burden of the old Braithwhite family.

  
"Hey."

  
Ruby walked in with a smile and took a glass of water for herself.

  
"What did he say?"

  
"He's going around the house."

  
"With how loud they were last night, I would be surprised if he didn't find a whole colony."

  
Christina said nothing, finishing her glass of water instead. Ruby came to stand beside her, wrapping Christina in a side-hug.

  
"I'm almost done with the living room and the truck is almost full. I think we should not bother with the kitchen and the reception hall and all of the bedrooms and just leave tomorrow."

  
Christina tiredly nodded.

  
"You're probably right. I can't wait to get rid of this place."

  
She rested her head against Ruby's shoulder, placing a kiss at the junction with her neck. Ruby caressed her arm gently.

  
Their moment of intimacy was broken when they heard knocking at the front door. The sound was sharp, it echoed around the entire house. Christina reluctantly detached from Ruby, thinking it must have been the exterminator who had finally found the entrance to the rats' nest. She stiffened a yawn, regained her composure, and opened the door. She found Rebecca and Sebastian Faulkner standing on the other side, smiling brightly at her.

  
"Hello!" Rebecca said with what Christina now understood as her usual pep.

  
"Can I help you?" Christina asked, setting politeness aside.

  
"We wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. You and miss Baptiste, of course. Our entire family will be here, but we felt bad thinking about you two alone in this big house. So, it would be our honor if you'd join us for dinner. For old time's sake."

  
Christina crossed her arms.

"What do you mean, old time's sake?"

  
"Well, our families used to be very close. We'd have dinners, parties. Our ancestors worked together at one point."

  
"They worked together?"

  
"Yes, they had a rather successful partnership, actually. Shipping."

  
Christina gave a curt nod.

  
"Well, It's nice of you, but Ruby and I are very tired from all the cleaning we've had to do, and we'd like to rest. But another time, maybe?"

  
The redhead couple exchanged a glance, and Sebastian took over for his wife:

  
"Of course. And don't hesitate to drop uninvited if you need anything."

  
"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

  
She waited barely a second to make sure the couple was leaving before she shut the door. She took a deep breath. These Faulkners were starting to annoy her. She returned to the kitchen, where Ruby was waiting, water glass in hand.

  
"So?"

  
"It was the Faulkners inviting us for dinner tonight."

  
"Please tell me you said no."

  
Christina filled up her glass again before she replied:

  
"I'd rather spend a week in the pyramid than have dinner with them. Family connection or not."

  
Ruby could only agree.

  
"They give me the creeps. They look so much alike they could be twins, seriously. I swear if they come back to ask tomorrow..."

  
There was a slight knock at a window, and Christina frowned. She put her glass down and went into the reception hall. The exterminator was at the window. She opened to let him in.

  
"Thank you. I went around the house. I think I might have found where they came from, but I'm not sure."

  
"What do you mean?"

  
"Well, it's some sort of ventilation grate in the garage. Hypothetically, I could see rats going in, but there's no scratching, no droppings. I don't see any other way they could have gone in, though."

  
It took a moment for Christina to understand that by the garage, he meant the stables, and another to understand what he was implying.

  
"So you're saying there are no rats? Even though we heard them?" she said, crossing her arms.

  
"It could have been the pipes. I can't speak for old houses like these, but pipes could be another explanation. It's easy to mistake scratching for dripping when you're half-awake, or just tired..."

  
Christina glared at him, and the man pursed his lips, regretting his words.

  
"I'll place some rat poison down there, just in case..."

  
"You do that."

  
She closed the door and returned to the kitchen. Ruby was about to leave when she saw Christina's frustrated grimace.

  
"What?"

  
"He thinks we imagined the scratching. He says it's the pipes."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"Of course he does. Pipes, seriously? This guy's a hack."

  
Christina finished a full glass of water before she replied:

  
"I promise you, as soon as we're back home, I'll send someone who actually knows what they're doing."

  
"Anyway, back to work," Ruby said with a sigh as she left the kitchen and returned to the living room.

  
Christina sighed too, trying to will her frustration away.

* * *

Christina was awakened by scratching above her head. She'd fallen asleep almost as soon as her head had hit the pillow. Now in the middle of the night, as the moon reached its apex, she was pulled out of her dreams by scratching above her head. She opened her eyes quickly but saw nothing but the wooden ceiling. Still, the scratching continued.

  
"What a hack," she muttered between her teeth.

  
She shifted out of bed, waking Ruby who had been holding onto her.

  
"What..."

  
"The rats, again."

  
Ruby frowned, trying to focus her earing through her foggy mind. Indeed, the scratching was back. She sighed. Christina, who was wearing nothing but a tank top and panties, grabbed her shorts with a shiver.

  
"I'll find out where they're coming from, and tomorrow I'm calling back this moron of an exterminator."

  
Before Ruby could even step out of bed to help, Christina was out of the bedroom. The scratching was just as loud in the corridor, though it seemed to be coming from under her feet, rather than over her head. Christina brushed the carpet aside with her foot but found nothing but wood. She walked downstairs and paused at the bottom of the stairs, listening in intensely. The scratching surrounded her, it seemed to be coming from the walls too. She pressed her ear against the wood and heard it distinctly. The pitter-pattering of tiny claws on something. It almost sounded metallic. She hoped they hadn't eaten through a pipe.

  
She went into the kitchen, flipping the switch on, and picked up the keyring where she'd left it. She let the light on and returned upstairs. She searched for the right key as she hurried up the stairs, illuminated by the yellow light of the staircase. When she reached the observatory door, she jiggled the key inside and pushed the door open violently. Then, she paused. There was no scurrying, no scratching, just silence, and Christina's labored breath.

  
She searched under the tables, in every corner, but she saw nothing and heard nothing.

  
"Goddamn it..."

  
She decided to check the ground floor. The noise seemed to have been at its loudest there. She turned around and found the light in the staircase had been switched off. She looked up at the light bulb. Though the moonlight was dim, she could tell that the bulb hadn't blown.

  
"Ruby? Did you turn off the light? I'm upstairs."

  
No answer. Christina frowned. First, the doors locked on their own, now the light switched off. She shut the observatory door close and made her way down the stairs carefully until she found a light switch. Once the light was back on, she hurried downstairs.

  
The scratching hadn't stopped. It was a loud cacophony of claws against wood and stone and metal. It made Christina shiver uncomfortably. She crouched and placed her hand on the parquet floor. It seemed to vibrate with sound under her palm. There was movement down there alright.

  
"No, it's not rats, it's the pipes," Christina muttered sarcastically.

  
She went from room to room, searching for any signs of the rodents scurrying around her house. She looked under every piece of furniture, in the chimneys, in the bushes in the inner garden. She tried pushing the empty bookshelves aside to look behind. She could barely hear the noise in the kitchen and the game room, and for a moment, she thought it had stopped. But after she pushed another bookshelf, she heard it again, and it sent her into another fit of anger.

  
By the time she returned to the stairs, she wasn't any closer to figuring out where the rats were. She let out a frustrated breath. She was barefooted but ready to walk around the house and look for the damn things if it was the last thing she did. As she walked past the office door, she paused. There was a loud sound there, not quite scratching, but close to it. She couldn't identify it, however. She placed her head against the door and held her breath. There was definitely something inside.

  
She flipped through the keys until she found the right one, and unlocked the door. To her surprise, however, it was already unlocked. She pushed the door open and flipped the light on. The office was just as empty as Ruby had left it. Not a book on the shelves, not a painting hanging on the walls. Still, the strange noise continued. Christina walked around the room silently and stopped. It was coming from the other side of the wall. There was no mistaking it now. It was the sound of running water.

  
She was certain the rats had busted a pipe open. Soon, there would be water pulling between the walls. She needed to make sure. She reached for the edge of the wood paneling and pulled, her short nails digging in the polished wood. To her surprise, the paneling didn't break but flipped open. She saw the hinges hidden behind the wood then. The wall opened like a door. It was a door. When the yellow light of the office filled the passage, Christina saw two stone steps leading down, and a bottomless pool of dark water.

  
"What the fuck..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! The space bar on my keyboard has been agonizing since yesterday so I'll keep this one short!  
> Just two more chapters to go before the end! I'll be posting the final chapter and the epilogue on Thursday, and then I have a one-shot for Friday, a sequel to "Listen to the Fireplace Roar" since so many of you have been asking for one!  
> Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you tomorrow for the next one!


	7. A Spark from the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As morning arrives, Christina and Ruby try to figure out what is hidden behind the secret door

The sun was rising in the sky, Christina was on her third cup of coffee, and no logical explanation had come to her yet. The map of the house was unrolled over the kitchen counter, held open by cups and plates as the blonde poured over it once more. Behind her, Ruby was peering at the map nervously.

  
"I don't understand," Christina kept muttering. "There is no door here. There's no basement on the map. There should not be stairs leading down, or a submerged cave..."

  
Ruby finished her coffee.

  
"At least now we know it wasn't rats."

  
Christina clicked her tongue.

  
"No, it's worse. Who knows how sound the foundations are with so much water underneath the house."

  
She quieted another groan with a sip of coffee. Ruby cleaned her mug quickly.

  
"I'll go take a look."

  
She took the keys from beside the map and walked to the office. She knew Christina wasn't making a mountain out of a molehill. Though she was stressed by this whole house mess, and in a hurry to sell, Christina wasn't the kind of person to exaggerate a situation. If there was such a large quantity of water beneath the house, then it was there.

  
She unlocked the office. Christina had secured it shut in case the water overflowed. When she opened the door, she found the office dry, untouched by water. She wouldn't have been able to tell which panel was the secret door if Christina hadn't told her. The opening was perfectly hidden. She forced it open, then frowned. There was the staircase alright, but there was no water. There were traces of water, as it was easy enough to see the level which the water had reached. The stone stairs were still wet. But the water had disappeared.

  
"Chris!" Ruby shouted.

  
Christina walked through the house quickly and walked into the office. She looked over Ruby's shoulder.

  
"It's gone..."

  
Christina pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned the flashlight on. The light reflected on the wet steps. Christina brushed past Ruby and took a step down.

  
"Please tell me you're not going down there."

  
Christina turned around.

  
"I have to see what's going on."

  
"Do I need to remind you what happened the last time we found a suspicious path down and we followed it?"

  
Christina pursed her lips thoughtfully.

  
"It can't be worst than the pyramid. Seriously. If we survived that, we can take do this."

  
Ruby had promised herself that she would never go underground ever again. Basements and underground parking lots had become a source of anxiety since Leti's rescue. But Christina was looking at her, waiting for her to make a decision. Ruby sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket too. She blocked the secret door with a file cabinet and followed her girlfriend down.

* * *

Ruby's heart was beating loudly in her chest. She held onto the wet wall with one hand, taking careful steps on the slick stairs. Christina was just two steps ahead. The stairs had turned to the right before continuing in a straight line. The walls were made of irregular stone, dug by pickaxes, no doubt. From time to time there was a little nook in the wall where a large candle had been placed, but the wick was too wet to be lit.

  
They reached a circular room. The roof was a dome with symbols and constellations painted on it. There was a small balcony running around the room and leading to another set of stairs. When both Christina and Ruby leaned over the balcony, they found a marble floor fifteen feet below. In the middle of this perfect circle was a white altar, just large enough to hold an adult. Four pipes pierced through the walls just in arm's reach. Their large and old-looking brass mouths were still letting out droplets of water. A rusted valve sat beside the exit of each pipe.

  
"What is this place?" Ruby asked.

  
Christina didn't have an answer for her. Instead, she walked through puddles on the slick stone ground and rounded the balcony. She made her way down the last few steps and into the middle of the circular room. She pointed her flashlight to the ceiling, looking up at the painting.

  
Ruby joined her a moment later. The stone of the altar wasn't perfectly white, there were very faint orange marks on it. Ruby had no trouble telling what had made those stains. There were two open drains on either side of the room. When she looked closer at them, she noticed that they could be closed off, to keep the water in. She was about to tell Christina, but when she turned around to look at her, she found her girlfriend still staring at the ceiling. She looked up as well. In the middle of the dome was the painting of a baby with golden skin, piercing blue eyes, and white hair, crowned by a halo of light. It was surrounded by stars and planets.

  
"I think we should leave," Ruby suggested.

  
Christina had yet to say anything. She was staring at the baby above her, and it was staring back.

  
"Come on, Chris."

  
Ruby reached for her arm and tried to pull her away. Christina finally snapped out of her thoughts.

  
"I'll have it sealed before we sell."

  
She noticed the valves on the pipes and went around each, securing them shut with a few hard turns. A metal plate fell in front of the mouth, shutting the pipes tightly.

  
"Fucking pipes..." she muttered, before making her way back up.

  
Ruby followed after taking one last worried look at the stained altar.

* * *

As soon as Ruby was out of the basement, Christina shut the door behind her. She stormed out of the office. Ruby followed.

  
"We shouldn't have even bothered to come here," Christina said as she entered the kitchen. "We shouldn't even have bothered with those stupid heirlooms and just sell the whole thing."

  
She pushed the cups and the plates away, pulling the map free. One of the plates shattered on the ground, but Christina didn't even seem to notice. For a second, Ruby thought she was going to tear the map to pieces, but she angrily rolled it up instead.

  
"Alright..."

  
Ruby took Christina's wrist in her hands, making the blonde pause. She took the map out of her hands and placed it back on the kitchen counter. Then, she took Christina's hands in hers. There was resentment in her eyes, but Ruby knew it wasn't directed toward her.

  
"Take a deep breath. We're almost done anyway. We're leaving tomorrow."

  
"I can't calm down, Ruby!" Christina shouted, but not stepping away. "Because every time I find something about my family, it's a horrible thing! And even this fucking house is no different!"

  
Ruby took a deep breath, hoping Christina would imitate her. But she didn't. Her eyes were wide, searching through Ruby's eyes for something but not finding what she was looking for.

  
"You want to leave? We can leave now. Let's just go home, alright?"

  
Finally, Christina took a deep, calming breath.

  
"Okay, let's go."

  
They packed their bags quickly and secured the back of the truck. Christina locked the house and threw the old keys in the cupholder between them. Ruby, feeling that Christina was in no shape to drive, took the wheel. They drove off silently, gravel crunching under the wheels. Neither woman looked back as they disappeared down the hill. The house shrunk until only the dome could be visible. They drove down the long straight road.

  
"I don't understand how you can be so calm about this," Christina finally said.

  
"I mean, an altar for human sacrifice is bad but when you told me about this old house your family owned, I expected us to find a few skeletons hidden. Real skeletons."

  
"Nothing good ever came out of the Braithwhites..." she muttered.

  
Ruby glanced at her with a smile.

  
"There's you."

  
Christina managed a smile of her own.

  
"If you weren't driving right now, I would kiss you."

  
They passed meadows and trees back toward civilization. The Faulkner house appeared in the distance ahead of them. Smoke seemed to be rising from one of the chimneys, and Ruby wondered if they were doing a barbecue. She certainly wouldn't miss them.

  
Someone was standing in the middle of the road, prompting Ruby to slow the truck down. It was Rose, standing in their way, her soccer ball in both hands. Ruby lowered her car window and leaned out to look at the little girl.

  
"I know not many people come around here but you shouldn't be playing in the middle of the road," she admonished her.

  
"I'm not playing," Rose said.

  
An old Range Rover rammed into the truck. Ruby heard the metal bend under the hit. She felt the weight of the truck shift around her. All of the poorly distributed weight at the back helped the truck flip over to its side. Ruby's head hit the side of the car door, and she lost consciousness.

* * *

Ruby was shaken awake by a cold draft of air. Her head was pounding. For a second, she couldn't quite remember where she was. She felt something sticky on her forehead. She felt her legs were stuck. She forced her eyes open. She was seating in the truck. The truck was on its side, in the middle of the road. The sun was falling over the hills. The seat beside hers was empty.

  
She tried to move and while her side hurt, it was because of bruises, not because of broken bones. She tried to push herself up and felt broken glass beneath her. She felt something metallic against her. The keys to the house rested against her thigh. She picked them up and untied her seat belt.

  
"Christina!" she called.

  
She felt her forehead and found dry blood there. She must have been seating in the car all day if the sun was already setting. She reached for the passenger seat and used it to heave herself in a somewhat standing position. The car door on Christina's side was open. She pulled herself out. There was no sign of the car which had rammed into them. The truck's engine had turned off. She imagined the batteries might be dead. Not that it would matter, with the heavy truck stuck on its side.

  
"Chris!" she called again.

  
No sign of her girlfriend anywhere. A wave of panic filled Ruby. Those crazy Faulkner had rammed into them, she was certain of it. They'd rammed into them, and dragged Christina to their house. Ruby jumped down from the truck and searched for her phone in her pocket. It had been crushed upon impact between her thigh and the car door. She groaned angrily. She couldn't just barge into the Faulkner house and demand they returned Christina. They would call the police and it could only end poorly. But even if she called the police, they might not believe her. And Christina was in danger, she needed to act fast. Not dead, she couldn't be dead, but Ruby did not doubt that if she waited too long, she would be.

  
She hurried back up the road to the house, clenching the keys in her hand. She climbed up the hill with a frantic heart, her train of thoughts clouded by fear. When she reached the front door, the sun was almost completely gone. The sky was a deep orange color, moonless. She struggled with the keys. She unlocked the door with trembling hands. As soon as the heavy door swung open, she shouted:

  
"Christina!"

  
Her call echoed in the empty house, unanswered. She stepped in, shutting the door behind her. She felt her whole body trembling, now that the adrenaline had dissipated. But now was not the time to crumble from fear, she told herself. She went for the phone in the kitchen. Each dial that rang in her ear was deafeningly loud. Her heart stopped when she heard the voice of a woman say:

  
"911, what's your emergency?"

  
"The neighbors kidnapped my girlfriend," Ruby said because what else was she supposed to say. "They ram into us while we were trying to leave and they took my girlfriend."

  
"We'll send a dispatch immediately," the woman said. "But I need your address."

  
Ruby's panicked brain was blank for a moment as she tried and failed and tried to remember the Lodge's address. One after the other, the words tumbled out of her mouth. It sounded like an address and the operator was satisfied, but the words seemed foreign to her.

  
"Please stay where you are, we're sending someone."

  
As the woman hung up, Ruby heard a strange whining sound. She frowned and hung up the phone. It came from between the walls. She followed it out of the kitchen slowly. As she reached the entrance, she found the office door open. The scratching sound was back. Water was running through the pipes again. Ruby entered the office silently. The trap door was open. For a second, Ruby wondered whether the Faulkners had taken Christina down there. She heard the sound of water splashing down onto the stone, filling up the room.

  
Light flickered on the wet wall. Two people walked up the stairs. Redheads, well-dressed, holding torches. They looked enough like the other Faulkners she'd met for Ruby to know they belonged to the family. They saw her figure looming at the top of the stairs and paused.

  
"Shit!"

  
As the one ahead rushed up the steps, Ruby slammed the secret door closed. She kept it shut as they banged against it, and pulled the nearest file cabinet closer. She toppled the cabinet in front of the opening, then another. With all the strength she could muster, she pushed the heavy desk against the cabinets. The two men on the other side continued to struggle.

  
"Where is Christina?" she shouted through the door.

  
"She refused our invitation," one of the men shouted back.

  
So she was at their house, she confirmed for herself. She left the office and locked the door behind her. The men could drown for all she cared. Ruby swiftly made her way to the game room and pulled a lever-action rifle off the wall. The police wouldn't arrive on time, she knew. Whatever those rich assholes had planned for her girlfriend, she wouldn't let them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just one more chapter to go! I hope you're excited about the ending!


	8. The Plague on Both Your Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby goes to the Faulkner house to free Christina

Armed with a loaded lever-action rifle, Ruby made her way through the thickets in the direction of the Faulkner house. The air buzzed with summer life, even as the last few rays of the sun lit Ruby's path. She kept the chimneys in her sight and walked with determination. She'd never used a gun before, but she wasn't afraid to use this one if that was what it would take to get Christina back.

  
She brushed past trees and reached an old wooden fence, overgrown with ivy and thorny bushes. She climbed over, careful not to prick her fingers, and stepped into Faulkner land. The moon was high in the starless sky. Ruby's eyes had grown used to the relative darkness. Through the trees, she could see light, which she assumed came from the house. She silently continued forward. The trees grew more sparse. The grass grew more and more unkempt, which surprised Ruby.

  
She reached the edge of the woods and found the house. It wasn't as big as the Ardham Lodge but it was certainly inspired by it. It was like a pale imitation of it, but it lacked its magnitude. The walls were clear of ivy, but the house only had two flours instead of three. Five old but expensive cars sat in front of the house, and Ruby noticed the Range Rover among them, with barely a scratch on it. Light shone through the windows. She saw a shape passing near the window, someone who was walking through the house.

  
Ruby stayed hidden in the trees and made her way around the house. There was no grand terrace at the back or stables, but there was a small wooden door hidden out of sight on the side of the house, where the kitchen would have been in the Lodge. The servants' entrance, Ruby imagined. She glanced around but found no one else was outside. She rushed out of the bushes and to the door. The handle gave way without resistance, and she slowly opened the door. As she had predicted, she entered the kitchen. There was a man with his back to her, another redhead. He was stocking a wooden furnace, mumbling under his breath.

  
"Can't believe I'm on knife duty again..."

  
He brushed the sweat off of his forehead. Ruby walked in quietly, and pointed the rifle to the man, the heavy stock firmly pressed against her shoulder.

  
"Step away from the fire," she said.

  
The man turned around quickly, the hot poker still in his hand. He was older than Sebastian but looked as though he could have been his uncle.

  
"Put it down," she said, motioning for the poker with the barrel.

  
The man trembled but didn't move. She wrenched the lever, cocking the gun.

  
"Where is Christina?"

  
The man tried to strike her with the poker. She blocked the red metal rod with the rifle, pushing back against it. The man struck again and she stepped out of the way, her back hitting the kitchen counter. She tried to aim again but at such a close range, the rifle was awkward. The poker had grown colder, but Ruby still didn't want to get hit. She countered another strike with the rifle, and reached blindly for something, anything on the kitchen counter. She grabbed a teapot and threw it at the man. It shattered against his head and he lost his grip on the poker. Ruby glanced beside her and saw a meat tenderizer. She reached for it. The man lunched at her, trying to grab the rifle out of her hand. She struck him with the tenderizer. He stumbled back and fell against the furnace. The heat licked the side of his face, and as he tried to stand back up, he put his hand over hot embers.

  
The man yelped in excruciating pain. With his other hand, he tried to reach for the poker on the ground, but Ruby kicked it away from him. She pointed the gun at him again.

  
"Where is Christina?"

  
"Downstairs," the man whimpered, holding his burned hand.

  
Not knowing what to do with the man, Ruby ran out of the door before he could recover and attacked her again. The hallway was empty. She reached the entrance hall unhindered. Just like at the Lodge, there was wood everywhere. A portrait also hung by the entrance, one of a serious-looking red-headed man. His name, Timothy Faulkner, was inscribed on a plaque under the painting. The door to the office was open.

  
Ruby hurried inside. She pulled on the wood paneling knowingly and it opened without resistance. She heard loud chanting coming from the passage. The way was lit by the candles on the walls. The stairs and walls were wet, just like in the secret passage at the Lodge. Despite having left the kitchen, the smell of burned wood seemed to linger in the air.

  
At the bottom of the stairs, Ruby found a room in all things similar to the one they'd discovered that very morning. The same circular shape, same pipes on the walls, same stone altar in the middle of the room. On the ceiling was the same baby staring back, but it had green eyes and red hair. A dozen people stood around the altar, wearing crimson robes. Only one wasn't wearing a robe. It was little Rose, standing at the head of the altar. Christina was laying on the altar, struggling against the people who were holding her wrists and ankles, keeping her in place. Her mouth was gagged. The Faulkners were chanting something in a language Ruby didn't understand, possibly Latin, she imagined.

  
She aimed at the dome and fired. The bullet fractured the stone dome, creating a crack that snapped a constellation in half. The sound reverberated around the room. Everyone's attention turned to Ruby. She armed the gun again and aimed down at the altar.

  
"The first person who touches a hair off of her head will get a bullet. Am I making myself clear?"

  
Christina looked at her with relief.

  
"Let her go, now!" Ruby ordered.

  
"We need her blood for the ceremony," an older man said, probably the oldest in the room.

  
"I don't give a shit about your Satanic ceremony. Let her go now."

  
Ruby wanted to shoot another warning shot, but she also didn't know how many bullets were in the gun, and she might only have one left. But despite her trembling, she remained focused on the situation at hand.

  
"She's a Braithwhite, she deserves to die," a woman said. Rebecca, Ruby recognized.

  
Ruby aimed the gun toward her and Rebecca flinched back.

  
"Say that again, I fucking dare you."

  
Christina suddenly managed to wriggle her hand free. She punched the man holding her other hand. Surprised, the others stepped back as if they'd forgotten they were supposed to keep her still. Christina jumped off the table and ran up the stairs. She tore the gag off her mouth and threw it behind her. She was halfway to Ruby when the Faulkners realized their sacrifice had escaped. Despite the gun still trained on them, they ran after her.

  
Christina reached Ruby. She would have jumped into her arms if there hadn't been a dozen people pursuing them. The blonde had a bruise on her cheek and dry blood stained the back of her head. Ruby's heart jumped with elation in her chest when she felt Christina near her. Christina slipped behind her, and Ruby pointed the gun at the crowd of robed redheads. They stopped dead in their tracks.

  
"Another step and I shoot," she warned.

  
None of the Faulkners dared to take that other step. Ruby glanced at Christina, and they both agreed that it was time to go. They ran up the stairs. As soon as they were out of the tunnel, Ruby shut the secret door and blocked it with a file cabinet. They hurried out of the office and to the front door. The smell of burning fire was overwhelming, although no smoke or flames could be seen. Ruby wondered if the uncle in the kitchen had neglected to check on the furnace.

  
The old key was on the door, and Christina unlocked it. The warm summer air filled the house as they ran out. There was a long gravel path leading to the trees. They rushed down the path at full speed. Ruby glanced behind her but saw no one pursuing them. The trees grew denser on either side of the path. They reached an old black metal gate. Christina pushed against it and it gave way with a high-pitched cry. They slipped past it. The road was ahead of them. There was more gravel on the ground, but it was overgrown with grass.

  
Christina continued to run until she reached the road. Ruby kept an eye behind them, walking quickly. When she caught up with the blonde Christina pulled her into a hug. Ruby hugged her back fiercely. Her heart was pounding in her ears, but the warmth of Christina, alive in her arms, brought tears of relief to her eyes. Christina's breath grew shaky, and Ruby knew she was close to tears as well. She held onto Ruby, burying her head in her shoulder and refusing to let go.

  
Ruby noticed the lights flashing down the road and threw the gun away. Christina didn't move until she heard the sirens. Ruby flagged the police car down, and Christina seemed to find at least a modicum of composure and stepped away from Ruby. The police car slowed and stopped beside them.

  
"I'm the one who called," Ruby said. "We'd like to file a complaint."

* * *

Ruby finished her tale for the second time. She waited for officer Hunt to speak, but it was the lawyer who asked first:

  
"My client has told you all that she knows. Now please, let her out and arrest those people."

  
"I can't do that," officer Hunt said as he finished his morning coffee.

  
Both Ruby and the lawyer frowned.

  
"Why? They tried to kill miss Braithwhite, which, need I remind, I also work for. This is gross professional misconduct on your part and you need to bring them in for interrogation."

  
"I can't," the officer repeated with irritation. "They're all dead."

  
Ruby felt her whole body grow cold and rigid.

  
"What?"

  
"This is what I don't understand," officer Hunt explained. "We found your truck down the road like you said but there was no sign of breaking at the house, and we couldn't search the basement because it was flooded. And those Faulkers you keep talking about? They all died in a fire in 1979. Arson, the culprit was never found."

  
Officer Hunt rubbed his face tiredly. Ruby's mind had gone blank. None of what the officer was saying made sense.

  
"You were probably the victims of a very elaborate prank is all I can tell you."

* * *

Once Ruby was released from the interrogation room, she and Christina took a cab back to the Ardham Lodge. Christina had arranged for the truck to be flipped over and brought back to the house. Ruby didn't particularly want to return to the house, but she would kill for a chance to clean up before heading up on the road for fifteen hours.

  
As they passed the Faulkner house, she saw those same chimneys rising above the trees.

  
"Can you stop the car, please?" she said.

  
Christina frowned and watched with confusion as Ruby stepped out of the car. The overgrown gravel path was still there. She walked toward the gate. It was rusted shut, but she managed to pull it open just enough to pass through. Soon enough, she heard Christina behind her. They followed the path through the trees. There, too, the gravel had been overtaken by grass. The house loomed ahead of them, at first hidden by the foliage. Then, they saw the wreck.

  
Near forty years of abandonment had taken its toll on what was once a house. It was clear enough that a fire had taken place there. The stone walls still standing were black with soot that decades of rain couldn't wash out. The windows had long been broken by the heat, and the old frames now served as a canvas for creepers and thorns alike. The roof had caved in. A pile of burned rubble occupied most of the house. The fire had eaten away at the wood, floor after floor, until they'd all collapsed on top of each other. Only a small part of the rubble had been cleared to recover bodies, then left untouched for vegetation to take over.

  
Ruby walked up the stairs to the front door. There was no front door left, just melted hinges. She stepped into the entrance hall but could go no further. The stairs had crumbled into a mass of burned logs, now populated by moss and mushrooms. Rot created a new pattern on the wallpaper. The carpet sloshed under her feet, releasing disgusting brown water that even the summer heat couldn't evaporate.

  
Ruby turned to look at Christina, who seemed just as confused as her.

  
"What is wrong with us?" Ruby asked.

  
"I don't know."

  
The bruise on the blonde's cheek was still there. It couldn't have been a dream.

  
"I feel..."

  
Ruby had no words for what she felt. She felt like she was going mad like her mind had been split in half. She couldn't make sense of what had just happened. A look at Christina told her that she felt the same.

  
"They told me it was only fair," Christina said. "After what my family did to them. I didn't understand, but now..."

  
Christina's breath hitched in her throat as she struggled against a sob. Ruby took her hand in hers.

  
"Whatever shred of sanity I had left after the pyramid is gone," Christina said.

  
"It will never make sense. We don't have to make sense of it. We just have to leave it behind and move on."

  
Christina nodded.

  
"I can do that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Do you think rich incestuous cannibals are too much for the villains of my story?  
> My sister: Yeah, definitely.  
> Me: Okay, I'll take the cannibal out then.  
> My sister: That is not the one I would have gone for...


	9. The Rest is Confetti

_6 months later_

  
"I swear if we're going to another family house of yours," Ruby complained.

  
They'd been driving through Michigan for three hours now, climbing higher and higher up a mountain path. Ten inches of snow covered the side of the road. It was November, and it had snowed but a few days before their trip. Christina had been very mysterious about this trip, only telling Ruby to pack warmly for the weekend.

  
"We're almost there," Christina assured, her fingers nervously tapping the wheel with the music.

  
They'd passed a ski resort fifteen minutes ago and driven off the beaten path. The last house must have been five minutes behind them. It was isolated, but not too isolated. Not Ardham Lodge level of isolated.

  
They reached a brand new gate on the right side of the road. Christina parked in front of it, and the gate opened on its own. As they waited for the gate to open wide enough for the car to pass through, Ruby noticed the name written in beautiful metal letters above a mailbox. The Baptiste's Lodge. Ruby looked at Christina curiously and the blonde knew that she had seen the sign, but she said nothing. They drove through a dirt road shadowed by tall pines and came to park in front of a brand-new, modern house.

  
The house rested at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by conifers. Ruby stepped out of the car, her gaze transfixed on the house. It was made of pinewood, with large, floor to ceiling windows. A series of steps led to a front balcony, and the front door. White delicate curtains were drawn over the windows, hiding the inside like wrapping paper would dissimulate a gift. The house had one upper floor. The slanted black roof was already covered with snow.

  
Ruby turned to look at Christina with confusion. Her girlfriend simply produced a key out of her pocket and handed it to Ruby. There was a guitar key chain attached to it.

  
"Did you buy this place?" Ruby asked.

  
"Actually, I had it built. Designed and built."

  
Ruby was stunned silent. Christina smirked.

  
"Do you want me to open it for you?" she asked, motioning for the door.

  
"No, I'll do it."

  
Ruby unlocked the door easily. They entered the living room. It was a wide room sparsely furnished. There was a long couch in the middle of the room, a TV attached to the wall, and a wooden shelf beneath it. There was no fireplace, but a modern electric hearth in the wall, hidden behind protective glass. Beside it was a staircase leading upstairs to a balcony. There were two closed doors there, and a small reading nook in a corner, overlooking the living room. There was also space to walk around the stairs, which led to another door, and the opening to the kitchen. On the right side of the living room was a balcony overlooking the valley.

  
Ruby took in the sight with a slacked jaw. As she did, Christina explained:

  
"Our bedroom is behind the stairs. Upstairs is another bedroom, in case, and our office."

  
"Our office?" Ruby questioned.

  
"Ours. Two desks, two chairs. The dining table is behind the stairs too. There's an extension in the closet, in case we need it. There's no attic, no basement, no secret passage."

  
Christina looked at Ruby, expecting a reaction. When Ruby gave none, she began to worry.

  
"You don't like it?" she said, her voice betraying her anxiousness.

  
"Are you serious? It's amazing."

  
This brought a smile back to Christina's lips.

  
"Do you want to see the view?" she asked, her voice slightly trembling as if fear hadn't left her body just yet.

  
Ruby followed her girlfriend on the balcony. There was a large terrace there at the edge of the cliff, overlooking the snowy valley below. The banister was made of strong and steady glass plates. The balcony wrapped around the house all the way to their bedroom, where the view over the mountains and pines and towns was even more breathtaking. Despite the chill November air, Ruby felt she could spend the rest of her day there, looking down.

  
"Look under you," Christina said.

  
Ruby looked at the ground. There was a hexagonal shape cut out of the terrace, secured by latches.

  
"I thought you said no secret passages?" Ruby said with a frown as she stepped away from the trap door.

  
"No secret passages doesn't mean no secret."

  
Christina opened the latches and lifted the trap door just enough for Ruby to look inside. Her dark eyes grew wide.

  
"Is that a hot tub?!"

  
Christina smirked, enjoying Ruby's reaction. She secured it shut once again. She leaned against the railing, looking at the vista below. Ruby did the same.

  
"It's yours," Christina said as she looked back at Ruby.

  
"What?" Ruby said with confusion.

  
"This house. I had it built for you. It's yours."

  
Ruby rolled her eyes.

  
"I don't need a mountain cabin."

  
"It's a gift. Just thank me."

  
Ruby shook her head with amusement but brought Christina into a kiss anyway.

  
"It's marvelous. Thank you."

  
Christina's smile turned into a nervous grimace and she took a deep breath.

  
"Just one last thing."

  
She pulled a velvet box out of her pocket and kneeled. Ruby's heart stopped in her chest.

  
"I didn't understand family until I met you," Christina said with a trembling voice. "You know I come from the worst kind of family there is. But the first four years we were together, you made me understand what family is. Those eighteen months without you were the hardest of my life. So when we got back together, I promised myself I wouldn't do the same mistake again. I wouldn't let the best thing that has ever happened to me out of my sight again. I got rid of everything that attached me to the Braithwhites, except my name. I let my birth family behind, and now I'm just waiting for you. Will you help me build a better family?"

  
With slightly trembling hands, she struggled to open the box. Inside was a golden band adorned with a diamond. Christina finally dared to look at Ruby. She was crying and brushing the tears out of her eyes. She tried to speak but found she couldn't, and nodded instead. With a sigh of relief, Christina stood up and took the ring out of the box. She placed it on Ruby's finger. The ring was barely on that Ruby got a hold of her jacket and pulled her in for a loving kiss.

  
"I love you," Ruby whispered against her lips.

  
"I love you too," Christina whispered back to her fiancée.

  
Ruby kissed her again, then brushed tears out of her eyes.

  
"I can't believe you build a whole fucking house just to propose," she joked, making Christina chuckle. "I think this calls for a celebration."

  
"There's champagne in the fridge," Christina said. "And a bed right behind us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this is the end...  
> I wanted to start a whole franchise with these two. I would have sent them on supernatural adventures, and it would have been spooky and fun, but like, after this one... I kinda forgot that in most Lovecraftian horror stories the main characters go mad from their experience. So between the pyramid and this, yeah, I'd rather leave them happy and together like they are now. No more supernatural adventures for this version of Ruby and Christina, just happiness! (And a lifetime of therapy)  
> As I mentioned before I'll be posting a one-shot tomorrow, a sequel to Listen to the Fireplace Roar (I don't have a title yet, sorry). And then I have a new multi-chapter story, this time a Childhood Best Friends AU!  
> Anyway, as usual, I hope you've enjoyed this story, and I hope you have a nice week!


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